Take a bit of the British music hall comedian Max Miller who was generally regarded as the greatest comic of his time. Blend with a touch of Gene Vincent, infuse with musical influences including jazz, rock and roll, funk, and reggae, Then overlay with  poetry, word play, observations of everyday life, character sketches, and sexual humour. You end up with Ian Dury and the Blockheads. I was asked recently, “if I could bring a musician back from the depth of death to play a one off concert who would its be?” I ponder for a while and mentally went through the options Lennon, Marley, Joplin, Gaye, Mayfield, Hendrix, Cash, Morrison, etc. I settled for Ian Dury.  After accidentally stumbling across his bio film, Sex and Drugs and Rock n Roll it just reinforced what a special talent he was and that he never failed to make me smile. If you are unlucky enough not to have come across  his classic album New Boots and Panties (1977) then it comes highly recommended. A masterclass. Dury died of metastatic colorectal cancer on 27 March 2000, aged 57. An obituary in The Guardian read: “one of few true originals of the English music scene” I wholeheartedly agree.